WASHINGTON and MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Republicans and Democrats alike are gearing up for an intense fight over Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District seat, but first GOP voters have to pick a nominee from a crowded field next week.
In the newly redrawn district stretching from the Wiregrass to Montgomery and Lowndes County, the seat has become favorable to Republicans after redistricting this year.
Still, national parties and the candidates, including incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, believe the race is competitive and spending is expected to reflect that belief after the Aug. 11 special primary.
At the start of the year, just one Republican was challenging Figures for the court-drawn 2nd District seat.
Now, with the 2023 congressional map in place, six GOP candidates are in the race, some of whom moved from the 1st District race because of the new lines while others joined the field for the first time in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Ahead of the special primary, the Republican candidates have to argue why they are the best person for the job and the best person to beat the Democratic incumbent in November.
State Rep. Rhett Marques, R-Enterprise, was redrawn into the 2nd District after redistricting and has become the likely frontrunner of the primary field, with key endorsements from President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and influential Alabama groups.
“(I want) to go to Washington with the same common sense approach that we’ve had here in Alabama as a state representative over the last eight years to pass President Trump’s agenda and move Alabama forward,” Marques, a small business owner, told Alabama Daily News.
Hampton Harris, the only Republican to qualify for the AL-2 seat before redistricting and who qualified again under the new lines, is hoping to bring a fresh and youthful perspective to Congress at the age of 29.
“I decided to get in the race because no one else was willing to do so, and I jumped in there and was trying to be that difference that I wanted to see,” he told ADN.
The Montgomery native is a real estate broker and attorney, and an active-duty spouse, which he said has encouraged his focus on supporting the district’s military bases and veterans.
Christian Horn, who has unsuccessfully run for Alabama secretary of state and the old 7th Congressional District, said his six-generation family history in the 2nd District gives him a unique understanding of the area’s needs.
“I can actually beat Shomari Figures because I have the scalability of having the trajectory of understanding the district,” Horn told ADN, looking ahead to the general election.
Horn, a small business owner, added that his experience on the ballot in past elections has prepared him for his most recent run for Congress.
Joshua McKee said he’s running to bring unity back to the country. The Robertsdale Republican served as a Green Beret for 25 years, working as a “global congressman” for the United States, and later started nine businesses.
He hopes to leverage this experience to give back to his community.
“There’s a lot of division in the country right now, all the way down to the community level. When you have parties arguing and fighting, it doesn’t matter which side you’re on,” McKee said. “You don’t bring anybody to the table to want to get involved in politics in the direction of the country. We need someone out there that wants to unite everybody and bring everybody back together, regardless of our differences. We’re stronger when we’re together, and that’s the most important part.”
James Richardson, a Marine veteran, also leans on his military experience as a reason to run. He said he protected people’s freedoms in the military and would do the same in Congress.
Richardson said he believes the people of Alabama are no longer heard in D.C. and that the government is straying away from the founding fathers’ original intentions.
“We are treated more like numbers on a spreadsheet, with the government wondering how much more they can squeeze from everyone’s income,” the Republican out of Headland told ADN in an email statement. “Meanwhile our freedoms are slowly stripped away a bill at a time. Our Founding Fathers never envisioned a nation where the people’s voice was drowned out and corporate greed bought and paid for political positions.”
David Matthews, a two-time political appointee for Trump, did not return any of Alabama Daily News’ requests for comment.
In a recent interview, Figures emphasized that eight of the counties in the current 2nd District remain under the new district, making it easier to show constituents how he has worked to help the area through his first term in office.
“We’ve been able to produce for them in counties both big and small, and so we go about it by running on our record,” the Mobile Democrat told ADN. “We go and meet people, and we tell them what we stand for. We tell them where we are on the issues.”
The congressman pointed to some of his most recent bills, such as one to help farmers offset the effects of tariffs and another to support families with extracurricular expenses, as evidence of his focus on finding solutions.
Candidates talk pressing issues
Most Republicans in the race believe making life more affordable for those in the 2nd District is at the top of their to-do list should they win. And even as the Iran war has hiked gas prices and fertilizer and grocery costs, the congressional hopefuls who talked about affordability said they are behind Trump’s strikes.
“People are struggling right now, and we need to make sure that we continue making things more affordable. And I did that by voting to cut the grocery tax in half,” Marques said, referring to his time in the Alabama Legislature.
He also highlighted how if Republicans can remain in control of Congress, they can ensure Trump’s tax cuts, extended in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, stay in place.
On the Iran war, Marques called the rise in prices a “temporary setback” in the larger fight against keeping a nuclear weapon out of the Middle Eastern nation’s hands.
“I think the president did the right thing by making sure that they do not have a nuclear weapon,” he told ADN. “We can’t allow them to have it.”
The Enterprise Republican also touched on the importance of supporting the 2nd District’s military installations, such as Maxwell Air Force Base and Fort Rucker, and providing relief for farmers.
For Harris, affordability is one of his main issues on the campaign and in his personal life as he begins to start a family and buy a house, he said.
“I want to make sure that that still exists for me for the rest of my life and for my children, so we’ve got to make sure our prices come down,” Harris told ADN. “We’ve got to get it to where we balance our budget, and I think one of the best ways to do that is to lower the price of fuel, especially diesel fuel, which will help our farmers across this district.”
Other issues that Harris listed to ADN include supporting veterans, ending birthright citizenship and addressing the depleting Social Security funds.
Horn’s focus on affordability is centered on gas prices and grocery costs, which in Alabama, a gallon of gas is sitting at about $3.74 as of the start of August, according to AAA.
“We are in a war right now. President Trump needs to finish what he started, but at the end of the day, gas prices are hurting white, Black, Democrat, Republican, and it’s something that I want to make certain that we’re on top of is the affordability,” Horn said.
He also said boosting election integrity and addressing crime in Montgomery are high on his priority list if he’s elected.
Often linked to affordability, infrastructure is a primary focus for other candidates in the race.
Richardson said infrastructure is like blood vessels running to and from the heart, a system essential for growth and success. He said national security, prices and economic growth depend on the state of roads, broadband and utilities.
“Infrastructure affects every aspect of daily life,” he told ADN. “While fiber internet is steadily expanding into rural areas, it needs to expand further to support small businesses, improve communication, and open new opportunities. Our power grids are outdated and need improvement to reduce costs. Alabama consistently has some of the highest electricity rates in the country. Many miles of unpaved roads still exist, slowing down farmers and loggers who rely on them.”
McKee said the people in the 2nd District feel forgotten, partly because of a lack of infrastructure in the area. He also said it’s hard to recruit job-creating businesses to the district because there is no superhighway that connects rural areas to the rest of the state.
Funneling money back into communities through grants is a way to improve the situation, he said.
“We’ve got to invest back in the communities, get people wanting to create businesses, that sense of ownership, and that spans all party lines,” McKee said. “And anybody out there, regardless of their party, if they have an opportunity to create a business, create something that they own, that’s where you’re going to start uniting people.”
Encouraging voters to head to the polls
With one week to go before the special primary, all five Republicans interviewed acknowledged that much of their campaign time has been spent simply educating voters about the fact that there is an upcoming election.
“This is the biggest thing that I have been working on since the change…and the Supreme Court allowed us to use the lines that the legislature drew,” Marques told ADN. “It is word of mouth, making sure people know about August 11th because it’s not a date that people are used to going to the voting booth.”
Harris said even as a candidate himself, he’s been confused about the different districts and elections. He hopes his campaign will encourage younger voters to cast their ballots.
McKee said he’s been relying on social media to get the word out about the election. With kids going back to school and families taking vacations, people aren’t thinking about the election, but it’s still important to exercise one’s civic duty, he said.
“It’s coming down to life is busy for everyone, and it gets busier toward the end of the summer, and things get forgotten,” McKee said. “I can’t blame anybody for forgetting, but they do have to understand. I remind them that the most important thing you have in this country is your voice, your First Amendment right.”
There will be no runoffs after the special primary, so the candidate with the most votes next Tuesday will face Figures in the general election.